Final book cover and other news

The problem with social media is that sometimes you forget to post where you're supposed to. I think I need a social media flowchart. Something that reminds me what to do.  Something like "If it's about this topic and it's in this format, post here and here and here."

I've updated the book cover everywhere else (Flickr, Facebook, Google Plus, the book website) and I forgot this blog! Actually, I even forgot Twitter! *sigh*

Anyway, here's the final version of the book cover (linked from Flickr).

The description in Flickr is as follows:

I wasn't quite happy with the concept I originally had.  Then when I was at the grocery store, waiting in line for the checkout, I looked over the romance paperback books that were near the cashier.  I realized that non-fiction book covers tend to have a simple background; some are just plain white.  Meanwhile, the romance novels have pictures of beautiful women (or hunky men) on the covers.  And books about Second Life have pictures of avatars on the front cover, of course.

So I combined all three concepts and came up with this.

So far, I've gotten good feedback about this design.

The reason this came to the forefront of my mind again is because of the Poetry Fest in the Milk Wood sim.  I'm only allowed 5 prims, so I had to redo the poster so that people could click on "buttons" for the website, the FB page and the G+ page, while using only one prim for the poster.  (If you want a copy of the poster, please IM me inworld.)

The book is still in editing.  My new target release date is in May 2012.  Even after its release, I'm still very open to feedback for the paper version and for reprints.

Preliminary cover

I needed a cover art to submit today (Monday) for the RTIR (Radio-TV Interview Report) mid-February issue.

I had a concept to have male avatars either all in tuxes or all in different attires to represent the diversity of people in Second Life.  However, because of my graphics card issues, I can't log into SL to do a photo shoot of avatars.  Thankfully, I had taken one photo of the arrangement of the steamer baskets that I built for the shoot.

My sister Sam had given me advice about the typography, but, of course, I didn't listen to her.  :D  She even sent me a new version with the nice fonts, but I can't unzip the fonts and when I found them online, they cost US$60 and US$99 each.  (I think I'm in the wrong industry.)  So I searched for other fonts that were free and moved stuff around, and here's the result:

I still like the idea of the avatars inside the steamer baskets, but that will have to wait.

Book cover photoshoot cancelled for now

I have to cancel the photoshoot for now, due to graphics card issues.  Thank you so much to all who volunteered willingly and to all who "volunteered" after I twisted their arms.  ;)

The reason for this rush is because of a popular marketing newsletter that pitches to the media about books.  The deadline for the mid-February issue is on Monday, and I was targeting that date.  I may have to send a preliminary book cover art instead, which will be different from the final cover art.

Meanwhile, I'll be using MetaBolt to get inworld, but MetaBolt is text-only viewer, so I can't do much in it.

I need a few good men...

Several, actually.

I'm working on the artwork for my book cover (www.LoveLikeDimSum.com), and I need male avatars (preferably human) in a wide variety of styles -- formal (different styles of tux), casual, punk, beachwear/surfer, construction-type, professor-type, biker dude, diver, pilot, hawaiian shirt, long hair, short hair, different ethnicities, older men, younger men, soldier, doctor, medieval, goth, modern, clean-cut, grunge, skinny, muscular, chubby, short, tall, ....  The more "real", the better.

The photoshoot will be this Saturday (Dec 17) at 4pm SLT at this location.

Please RSVP by sending a picture of what you'd be wearing (one for each style, including one in a tux) in any of the following ways:
    * a 1024x1024 texture inworld (title it "LLDS: <your name> in <short description of outfit>")
    * an attachment in an email to opallei@gmail.com (include your SL name)
    * a link (via notecard or email) to a photo in Flickr (include your SL name)
The photos don't need to be fancy.  I just need to see beforehand if I have enough diversity among the respondents.


On the day of the shoot, I would have boxes set out with steps to do.  If I'm distracted when you arrive, please touch them in sequential order for instructions.

Step 1 - Touch to get a copy of the model release form.  It will be a standard model release form.
    a) Create a new notecard.  It must be created by you.
    b) Change the properties to:
                MODIFY: NO
                Copy: yes
                Transfer: yes
    c) Change the title to "Model release - <your name>"
    d) Fill in the blanks inside with your name in the appropriate places.
    e) At the bottom, specify how you want your name mentioned in the book; you can use SL alt name, SL main account name, RL name, nickname.
    f) Remember to "Save".

Step 2 - Ctrl-Drag the notecard to the next box.

Step 3 - Sit on one of the red spheres and override the sit animation with the standing animation you chose for the shoot.  The sphere will not be invisible yet.

Step 4 - Ctrl-Alt-click on the blue sphere.

Step 5 - Grab a cup of coffee or tea, or take a nap, or do something else.  I'll drag your avatar into position.  Or I might ask you to sit on another poseball which has a specific animation.

And that's it!

Many thanks!